The effects of the environmental conditions and the channel depth for an air-breathing polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell were investigated experimentally. The fuel cell used in this work included a membrane and electrode assembly, which possessed an active area of with Nafion® 117 membrane. Triple serpentine designs for the flow fields with two different flow depths were used in this research. The experimental results indicated that the relative humidity and temperature play an important role with respect to fuel cell performance. The fuel cell needs to be operated at least 20 min to obtain stable performance. When the shallow flow field was used, the performance increased dramatically for low humidity and slightly for high humidity. The current density was obtained around only at with an 80% relative humidity, which was nearly double the performance for the deep flow field. The minimum operating temperature for an air-breathing fuel cell would be . When it was at 60% relative humidity, the open circuit voltage dropped to around 0.65 V. The fuel cell performance improved with increasing relative humidity from 80% to 100% at high current density.
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November 2008
This article was originally published in
Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology
Research Papers
An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of the Environmental Conditions and the Channel Depth for an Air-Breathing Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell
Yong Hun Park,
Yong Hun Park
Arbin Instruments
, 762 Peach Creek Cut Off Road, College Station, TX 77845
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Jerald A. Caton
Jerald A. Caton
E3 (Engines, Emissions, Energy) Research Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Texas A&M University
, College Station, TX 77843-3123
Search for other works by this author on:
Yong Hun Park
Arbin Instruments
, 762 Peach Creek Cut Off Road, College Station, TX 77845
Jerald A. Caton
E3 (Engines, Emissions, Energy) Research Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Texas A&M University
, College Station, TX 77843-3123J. Fuel Cell Sci. Technol. Nov 2008, 5(4): 041016 (9 pages)
Published Online: September 11, 2008
Article history
Received:
June 15, 2007
Revised:
November 26, 2007
Published:
September 11, 2008
Citation
Park, Y. H., and Caton, J. A. (September 11, 2008). "An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of the Environmental Conditions and the Channel Depth for an Air-Breathing Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell." ASME. J. Fuel Cell Sci. Technol. November 2008; 5(4): 041016. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2971196
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